Trump Offers Temporary Protections for ‘Dreamers’ in Exchange for Wall Funding – The New York Times

The president’s proposal “strikes a fair compromise by incorporating priorities from both sides of the aisle,” Mr. McConnell said in a statement after Mr. Trump’s speech.

If Mr. McConnell does indeed put a bill on the floor, as the president said he would, Senate Democrats will have to decide whether to block it or let it come up for a vote. Despite Democrats’ vow to reject the measure, it could create an opening for negotiations between the two sides.

The shutdown stalemate is creating increasing nervousness on Capitol Hill, especially among Republicans seeking re-election in Democratic-leaning states. One of them, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, is among only a handful of Republicans who have broken with the president and called for the government to reopen without a border security deal.

On Saturday, she praised the president, saying she hoped that Mr. Trump’s offer would “lead to constructive debate that will end this impasse.”

White House aides and allies of Mr. Trump said Saturday that Mr. Trump succeeded in ratcheting up the political pressure on Ms. Pelosi, especially if the Senate succeeded in passing a bill.

“The Democrats’ talking points have been that the president is solely responsible for shutting down the government,” Marc Short, the former White House legislative director, said. “This puts more onus on them to come back and say why this proposal is insufficient.”

But one reason Democrats are so leery of the deal is that they have been down this road with the president before. Last year, Mr. Trump and Mr. Schumer negotiated $25 billion in wall money for a pathway to citizenship for the Dreamers. But that deal fell apart when hard-line White House advisers persuaded the president to back away.

The standoff over the shutdown, some former aides noted, was the first time Mr. Trump has had to engage in meaningful, high-stakes negotiations. But even that has come as a last resort, in what some have likened to negotiating out of desperation after failing to score political points.